No Rest for the Wicked
by Edward Anthony Ferris
Summary: Six months after the events of the Hyperion Company and Handsome Jack, the Vault Hunters try to cope with life in newly relocated Santuary. They deal with each other, and the day to day threats of psychos, skags, and rakks. However, the bandits seem to be more heavily armed that usual, and a new threat arises from the North. Sexual Situations, Strong Profanity, Violence.
1. The Many Woes of Sanctuary

No Rest for the Wicked

_A Borderlands II Aftermath Story_

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, titles, or song lyrics used in the story. I'm simply an aspiring author with a passion for the game. Don't sue me. If you haven't played, and completed the story of, Borderlands I and II, this story is a waste of your time, please move on. Thank you._

_Chapter One: The many woes of Sanctuary._

_Brick._

Sanctuary.

The last vestibule of civilized society on the God-forsaken wasteland that is Pandora. The only hope for a taste of normality, a simple life that was more likely to end by age or sickness rather than in the jaws of some alpha skag or over a spit surrounded by cannibalistic, psychotic paranoid schizophrenics.

I stared at it through the open cockpit of my vehicle, through the goggles strapped to my head to keep the sand from tearing them from their sockets. Surrounded by open desert on every side, Sanctuary sat on the only spring of water for twenty miles. This, in combination with the several hundred armed citizens living within, was the only reason I stayed there. I sighed, adjusting the drum of my shotgun so it wasn't digging into my knee.

Stepping on the accelerator, my mind strayed back into the events of the last five and a half years. I'd stepped off that bus into Fyrestone with some dumbass delusion of fame and fortune, accompanied by three other morons just as high-minded as myself. Fucking idiots. All we managed after three months in the deserts of Pandora was a couple thousand dead psycho bandits, forty dead warlords, easily three thousand massacred skags, and a dead Destroyer that protected a good for nothing Vault. We left empty handed, but remained on Pandora for some reason, each of us going our separate ways after forming unbreakable bonds of bloodshed between us.

And then, five years later, four more jackasses came running to this hell-hole after hearing the same news about a _second_ Vault somewhere else on Pandora. Yeah, I remember meeting them quite well.

After I left Roland, Lilith, and Mordecai, I started my own gang of the toughest raiders and bandits I could find, and started my own personal war with the mentally unstable indigenous tribes that dominated the human population. Five years of work, building this society of brutes from scratch, earning the title of "King", and these four mercenaries come barging onto the premises, shooting up my men with apparent ease. This, of course, prompted me to listen to them and return to Sanctuary.

A few days of gunfire and smoking asses later, I was reunited with the old team. We then began our war to remove Handsome Jack, owner of the Hyperion Company, off Pandora and lift ourselves from his oppression. We lost Roland in the process, and Mordecai's phoenix, Bloodwing, died at the torturous hands of Handsome Jack. The Vault was discovered, the fifty-story tall lava-skag defeated, and Hyperion crushed.

Since then, the new four, (Zero the assassin, Maya the Siren, Axton the Commando, and Salvador the Gunzerker) were hailed on the level we had been when we found the first Vault. Six months later and people still treated them like gods. I couldn't see the big whoop, they were fine warriors, sure, but we'd been the first in a thousand years to find the Vault, and the first ones ever to open it.

_Of course,_ I said in my mind, _There are hundreds of other Vaults, aren't there?_

I snorted in agitation. It was always something else, always one more person to shoot, one more time into the fray. That was how I liked it, each day packed with combat. Not this sitting around bullshit.

My mind relaxed a bit as I slowed to breach the forcefield around Sanctuary.

I keyed a radio transmitter on the dash. "This is Brick, I'm coming back from the east coast, from the Fyrestone area."

I waited for the standard "too tired stay awake on radio duty" guy to get off his ass and respond. Ten seconds…Twenty…Thirty…

"I hear 'ya big guy, opening shield and vehicle access."

I offered a mere grunt, far too tired from the four thousand mile drive.

All for a power cell. A fucking power cell.

The shield parted, forming an archway through which I eased the Bandit Technical heavy transport. An open no-man's land separated the edge of the shield from the city, roughly a mile wide. I groaned as the beaten path beneath me seemed to slip away with agonizing slowness. The Technical wasn't as fast as the one-man Runners, but the lighter buggies couldn't comfortably support my size. Standing at seven-one and weighing in at three-twenty, you didn't find much in the way of proportional automobiles.

I pulled through the lowered garage doors, and into a brightly lit, grimy hangar-style building on the edge of Sanctuary's thirty foot walls. After finding a spot, I pulled the vehicle to a stop next to a black and green Runner. Axton's Runner.

I dropped out of the driver's seat, slinging my shotgun over my back.

A short, and I mean short by my standards, man with a trucker's cap and oil smears on his face and hands halted his jog about ten feet from me. "Hey there, muscles. You find what y'all was lookin' for?"

I hated his accent, and his three-year-old's grammar.

Despite the common stereotype of huge muscled guys being "meatheads" and being near retards, I am quite intelligent, and often was misjudged.

Scooter didn't bother me, however. "Yeah, I found it. I hit a spiderant king on the way back, fucked the front end all up. See what you can do with it."

Scooter didn't seem put out by the fact that I had unceremoniously added to his workload. On the contrary, he seemed delighted to have to fix another person's mistakes. "Well I will sure do, I'll have it all done did before the next time y'all take her out."

I nodded, making for the exit.

Safe return, check. Power cell for Zed, check. Money for a keg to myself, check.

_Axton._

I stepped into the bar/strip club at about dusk. The place was packed, go figure, but Zero was nowhere to be found. This was the fifth business I'd been too in the last hour trying to find the shady bastard.

"Goddamn it," I spat, frustrated at Zero's lack of social skills. "If he'd just agree to meet in public, the paranoid ninja-motherfucker…"

From across the strippers and drunk citizens of Sanctuary, Brick's voice boomed. "Axton, you son of a bitch, come on in and have a drink on me."

I resisted, very hard, the urge to roll my eyes.

Brick was a good guy, all the Vault Hunters were. He was just more annoying at times than he was tolerable. Being around a drunk Brick, nonetheless, was no picnic either. _He might know where Zero is, I suppose._

Pushing through the crowd of onlookers, I sidled onto a barstool between Brick and Mordecai. I couldn't help but notice it was like being between a wall of muscle and a stickman. Brick was downing a half gallon of beer at a time, barely stopping for air before taking a hit off a cigar and repeating the process with a fresh pitcher. Mordecai had clearly just returned from clearing a bowl outside, a serious crime if the Atlas company knew marijuana was present in Sanctuary, and was now joining Brick with a pitcher of his own.

I stared in awe at the two. If they weren't out in the wastes doing missions for the town to keep themselves busy, risking life and limb each time, they were enjoying their free time in the bar, or perhaps even racing one another at breakneck speeds through skag infested dunes and ramping hardened piles of spiderant shit .

"Why do you guys do this to yourselves?"

Brick looked at me and this is what he said, "Ah, there ain't no rest for the wicked. Money don't grow on trees. I've got bills to pay, a mouth to feed, you don't get anything in this world for free. I can't slow down, I can't hold back. Hey, I wish I could. Nope, there ain't no rest for the wicked, until we close our eyes for good."

With that, Brick's eyes slid shut, and his face slammed off the bar, and he finally collapsed out of his seat.

"Well said," I conceded, shrugging my shoulders and ordering a beer with what remained of Brick's money.

_Mordecai._

I stared across a circular wooden table, covered entirely by a map of the known regions of Pandora's single massive continent that covered half the planet's surface. One hand gripped the barrel of the rifle I was leaning on, the other lay in the uncharted waters that dominated the other half of the map.

My eyes, however, were fixed on a fine pair of jugs held upright by a mixture of youth and a tight leather shirt-

"Hey, Mord. Eyes up."

I snapped my focus back to Maya's face. "Right," I replied in mock offense, "And, uh, what were you saying?"

Maya scoffed, and threw her hands up in the air. "I fucking quit. Axton, you do it."

Axton stepped forward, breaking his conversation with Brick, and pointed to a red plastic flag placed on the map. "This," he jabbed the flag several times in pure arrogance, "Is where we last saw a Long-Dick Pete and his group of bandits. As you can see,"

"When he's sober," Maya added.

Axton pushed on. "-here, that Pete is moving steadily closer to where Deputy Flagstone has setup the base at the Old Mine. That's only a few hundred miles away, and he's moving closer every day."

Brick was holding a block of ice against his right eye, trying to reduce the pain in his head that I understood, and shared, all too well. "So?" He chided, "What do we care? He's too far away to do anything anytime soon."

Zero silently stepped up to the table. "He will be here," his voice was dark, and mysterious, "In four days. Scouts say he's very well armed."

Brick rolled his eyes. It was common knowledge that he didn't much care for Zero.

"So why don't we just load our guns, ride out there, and pummel this fucker into the ground?" Salvador asked, his arms outstretched and a smile on his chubby face.

"Because," I replied, taking care to make the words slow and deliberate, "He's _very well armed._"

Salvador shook his head like a buffalo trying his damndest to ward off flies.

Maya stepped forward again, having obviously calmed down. "If Brick, Mordecai, and Zero go there to head off Long-Dick Pete, Axton, Sal, and I can go deal with the issue over in the Arid Badlands."

I rolled my own eyes, groaning. "What the hell is the problem _there_?"

`Maya fixed me with a stare. "Apparently, Claptrap says that a large flock of rakks are migrating to the mountains north of us."

I poured a shot of coffee, taking a small sip. "And?"

Maya forced a sarcastic grin, her eyes filled to the lids with sheer dislike.

"That'll cause issues when they get hungry, won't it?" She softened her voice at the end as if talking to a baby.

"My God you're a bitch."

"Drunk," she replied cooly.

"Cunt."

"Washed up, mediocre sniper who's obsessed with his flaming chicken."

"Are you talking about the same chicken that you had down your throat three months ago? Because, babe, that one doesn't catch fire."

Maya snatched a random hollow pipe off the desk behind her, and started for me. I offered her a smart ass smile, just to piss her off. Axton grabbed the pipe out of her hand, throwing it across the room.

"Maya, calm down. Mord, that wasn't cool."

Zero whipped his sword from its place on his back and stabbed it downwards into the table with such lightning speed even I, an accomplished swordsman, couldn't follow him. "Enough."

Axton clapped his hands together loud enough to silence the room. "So," he rubbed his palms together, "We all know what we've got to do, let's get to it."

I grabbed my rifle, and, after meeting eyes with Brick, made for the door.


	2. Long-Dick Pete's Abnormal Extensions

_Chapter Two: Long-Dick Pete._

_Zero._

Mordecai had gone too far, no doubt about it.

He knew I was in love with Maya, and that her sexual relations with him were little more than alcohol induced celebrations of Sanctuary's new landing place. She regretted it, of course, who wouldn't? Mordecai was a good man, but he lacked the respect for women I'd been raised with. And for him to talk to _my_woman like that? After the two of us spent weeks training my sniper skills, and me teaching him the proper way of the sword? It was close to betrayal.

I gripped the hilt of my sword tight enough that I knew, had I not been wearing gloves, my knuckles would be snow-white. Through my helmet visor I stared at passing skags, rock formations, and the dust cloud behind the Technical. All there was to see on Pandora was right in front of me. Most could not see it, Brick and Mordecai especially. Though not unintelligent, neither had the mental capacity that I did. My mind was a computer, analyzing and calculating every second of every day. And my mental numbers had shown that Pandora was uninhabitable when speaking of long term survival. There could be no rest, no peace, no actual civilized life. That, I was sure, was why the other Vault Hunters loved this place so much. They felt free.

I remained here for Maya.

My head bounced off the back of the cab as the vehicle lurched forward, jarring my vision.

"Sorry," Brick shouted back, "Saw a skag pup, couldn't miss the chance."

_I'm sure you couldn't_, I thought darkly.

It was no secret that Brick didn't like me, or why. When I met the original four Vault Hunters, I had words between myself and Roland shortly before his death, and Brick had not let me live it down. I was _not_ in the wrong. Roland's plan of accompanying us on the assault that took his life was folly. He should have stayed with Mordecai and Brick.

An unnecessary casualty.

I turned my head very subtly to the left to catch a glimpse of Mordecai on the modified turret gun. He scanned the surrounding area, spinning the minigun barrels occasionally, no doubt to keep himself occupied. Such lack of discipline.

That was the difference between myself and Mordecai. Each a hunter in our own right. Each a trained sniper, tracker, insurgent, and swordsman. Physically, I would concede that we would be a very close match. Mentally, however, I dominated him. I fought with my mind, with logic, stealth, and precision. Mordecai had a stiff shot of vodka to wake him up in the mornings, and engaged his enemies with a hell-on-wheels sniper rifle and a turkey that could set itself on fire in the air. Yes, I was the dominant one overall. And probably the only who could see the doom of Pandora approaching closer every day. Brick was another story. He was not the stupid brute Salvador was, yet he was not the technical thinker of myself or Mordecai. He preferred to soak his spiked gloves in corrosive acid, and charge into firefights smashing heads in with his fists.

Totally barbaric.

I had no complaints about Axton, he was a good warrior and a good man, and probably my only friend aside from Maya.

Maya, on the other hand, was as much a fireball as Brick, yet as intelligent as Mordecai. She was as much a second Lilith as anyone could have hoped. She was my one piece of sanity on this shithole planet.

The Bandit Technical began to slow.

"We're about a quarter mile out," Mordecai said in a hushed voice, "We'll walk it from here."

Without a word, I checked that my pistols were on my hips, and sheathed my sword, running through mental exercises to clear my thoughts. The truck rolled to a stop, and I mantled out of the back, onto the white-hot cracked earth that was Pandora's surface.

_Brick._

The camp was set in a good location, for sure.

Nestled with its back against a cliff-face, nobody could siege the bandits without attacking them head-on. Ramshackle walls had been constructed out of sheet metal, and makeshift guard towers stood out at odd angles on either side of a break in the barrier, an obvious entrance. I knelt down a hundred yards away, now chest deep in a small pool of black water. No doubt I'd go home and find a third nut in the bag after being exposed to this shit.

"Mordecai, what do you see?" I whispered into the communicator.

"Ah," his voice sounded distracted, "There's about fifty, give or take one or two. They're all in the center, though."

_Where's Lilith's phasewalk when you need it?_

"We can take them by surprise from this distance," Zero hissed.

I resisted the temptation to tell him that I could throw his ass over the wall from this distance.

"Fine, but we do this right," Mordecai replied, "I'll send Hellfire down in there to tear 'em up, and you, Brick, run in behind him and…do your thing. Zero, follow Brick as backup."

"Sure," I said, slinging my shotgun over my back and flexing my arms to loosen them up.

"Understood." Zero's voice held no emotion, no indication as to his opinion on Mordecai's instructions.

I focused in on the opening in the wall, the pounding of my heart, the rise in adrenaline. I could hear nothing, only myself. I didn't even hear, not that I would have anyways, Zero drop from the rock formation and land beside me, sword in one hand revolver in the other. I could see the shirtless, masked psychos walking around a bonfire, over which a human body cooked. Each held a tribal weapon (circular saw blade fixed to the end of a climbing pick), and took occasional stabs at each other, and their slowly rotating dinner.

A thin hand tapped me on the shoulder, and I charged.

I closed the distance between the rock bluff and the bandits' camp in what felt like a second.

Directly in front of me, a shotgun held loosely at his side, was a typical Bruiser, a big guy though still not my size. He would be first. I clenched my fist, roared as loud as my being could muster, and swung.

_Mordecai._

Brick's straight right connected with the Bruiser's head in the same fashion I'd seen a thousand times before. Brick made contact, the head came apart, gore sprayed in every direction like a can of soda that had been shaken for an hour then opened, and Brick moved to the next victim, repeating the process. It was quite fascinating to watch.

Zero, contrastingly, employed a bit more finesse.

Ducking and rolling to avoid startled gunfire, he cut down a midget psycho with an almost lazy flick of his sword, step-jumped off the headless body, drove his blade through the torso of one of the tower guards, and finished brilliantly by drawing his revolver with impossible swiftness, and reducing a raider, a Badass by the looks of him, to little more than a pile of chunks and broken bones. I took potshots at any bandit, psycho or not, stupid enough to slow down to even a mild jog. Setting my sights on a psycho who had set himself on fire, common on Pandora, I squeezed the trigger, and allowed the kick of the rifle to come as a surprise. My result was one incendiary round striking true in the left eye of said flaming cannibal, transforming the once living human into a pile of ashes. My young phoenix, Hellfire, swooped down with his talons, locking his claws into the open mouths of attacking marauders, peeling the skin off their faces as he took flight once more.

I pressed a small metal tube to my lips, and blew into it. No sound came out, none that I could hear, yet Hellfire veered off his dive towards a midget and circled back my way. He wasn't old enough to be getting into full-scale brawls like this. Resting my eye on the scope, I followed Brick's rampage throughout the camp. He'd now moved on to a slugfest with a Badass Bruiser, which wouldn't be a challenge for him. Brick was way above his level. Sure enough, after a swift soccer kick to the balls, Brick finished his opponent with two hammerfists to the back of the head, cracking it open wide enough for me to count the swirls in the man's brain.

Zero had his hands at his sides, sword pointing towards the dirt, walking backwards and bobbing and weaving to avoid heavy-handed slashes with a makeshift machete wielded by a raider in what looked like a shock-shield.

_A raider shouldn't have a shield like that…_

Zero stepped out of the way of a sloppy downwards chop, slicing off the raider's hand and decapitating him with such astonishing speed I doubted the bandit even knew he'd been hit. Zero then leapt off the side of a Runner, and backflipped onto the roof of a sheet metal house, cutting down three psychos with his machine pistol. He was impressive, no doubt. I lit up two more raiders and a burning psycho, scanning the camp for Long-Dick Pete. With only five or six of his men remaining, he should appear quite soon…

A one legged body flew across my scope, colliding with another bandit in a dramatic spray of red mist as their heads knocked together, and both fell still. I panned left, and spent a few seconds watching Brick beat a midget to death with a human leg. Zero had just finished snap-kicking one psycho in the throat, while, at the same time, cutting a raider in half. He finished by flipping his sword upside down and hewing the gasping psycho in two, vertically. He sheathed his sword, and scanned the area for another attacker. Brick dropped the severed leg, and drew his shotgun from his back.

"Mordecai," Zero's voice said over the radio, "Can you see Pete?"

I slid the scope from either side, unable to see anything aside from the carnage the two had wreaked. "No, I can't see-"

A roar broke my line of speech, causing Brick to respond in kind.

A raider- no, a Super Badass Raider- appeared from inside one of the tents, heavy machine gun in hand. His armor was spiked, and his helmet was clearly formed from the skull of an alpha skag, and reinforced with discolored steel plates. It wasn't the armor that caught my attention, however, but the Badass Shock Skag he was riding.

"So," he shouted, his voice deep and gravelly, "These are the Vault Hunters. Well, I have a present for you!" He sounded deranged, and probably was.

He clapped a hand around his crotch, and lifted a plate up towards his chest. He then began to shake his hips, waving his dick in the air, laughing hysterically. I grinned in appreciation of the humor, and rested my sights on his face. I noticed the other two edge closer, guns ready.

_Good God,_ I thought, zooming in on the warlord, _judging by the two feet of beef I'm seeing, it's fair to guess this is Long-Dick Pete._

I squeezed off a shot, confident that it would soar through the crazy's head and that'd be the end of it.

The flaming round disintegrated against an invisible shield. I pulled back from the scope, shocked. My sniper had a DPS, or Damage per Shot, count of over seventeen thousand. No shield could withstand that… _That's the second strange shield today._

Long-Dick Pete threw his head back, laughing sycophantically. He pulled the slide back on his rifle, and began dumping rounds in my direction. Bits of rock chipped and peppered my face, one even hit my shield. I scrambled back down the backside of the ten-story rock formation, checking my shield levels as I did so.

2,122.

My jaw dropped.

I had a five-thousand point shield. One bullet brought it down nearly half. And Brick and Zero were standing right in front of this guy…

"He just one-shotted my shield, get out of there!"

I received no response, nor did I expect one. On my shoulder, Hellfire cawed. "No, not a chance. You'll get here, stay here and keep your fucking head down."

Hell nipped me on the cheek, and ruffled his feathers.

"They're going to be massacred…"

_Brick._

Mordecai's warning came just in time.

I emptied both barrels, pumped in two more shots, and emptied them again before I took the first hit. I felt, rather than read, my shield drop out completely. Unlike Mordecai, I wore a sleeveless shirt of body armor, which absorbed the second shot. I rolled to my right, firing blindly over my shoulder. Zero's shield had been damaged, somehow, in the initial fray, and he'd bailed before taking any of this guy's fire. He'd be recharging his defenses, no doubt.

I peered round the outbuilding I was using as cover, tossing a grenade to distract him. Mordecai's sniper round didn't even break the shield, which never happens. Of the few raiders and psychos that had shields, even fewer kept out more than small arms fire for more than few shots. Most were used to defend against skag bites and attacking rakks.

This "Long-Dick Pete" seemed to defy that rule tenfold.

The grenade went off, knocking Pete off the Skag. I took the opportunity to pump a few rounds into the beast, spilling its blue-white blood on the sand, and enraging it. Zero seemed to teleport from nowhere, spraying Pete with a straight line of pistol fire. His shield, as expected, blocked an entire magazine from the revolver. Zero switched to his machine pistol, loosing a bulletstorm few could withstand.

Every shot broke through the shield, clinking and tearing the armor apart.

Pete retaliated by sawing a guard tower in half in his wild attempt at murdering Zero.

"His Skag," Zero said, leaping like a cat out of harm's way, "Powers his shield and his gun. Keep them apart."

To me, this didn't seem possible, but I had bigger problems.

The skag was mere yards away and charging, static bolts crackling around him like an aura. I raised my shotty, dumping two rounds into the hard, armor-like scales on the top of the head and spine. Massive chunks of flesh were eviscerated, leaving craters in the animal's body.

Then the chunks healed over, replaced almost instantly by fresh muscle.

Before I had time to be startled, the skag plowed into me, knocking my gun from my hands. I locked my arms around its body, each of us fighting for dominant position. I knew we were rolling, though I couldn't tell in which direction. I landed two short punches to the skag's ribs, feeling one break and mend itself. The animal shocked the piss out of me, but I held on, striking when I could. A searing pain lanced across my left hip, though I ignored it, retaliating by head butting the creature in the snout. This continued for several long seconds, until the ground gave way beneath me, and both of us were falling into open air.

_Slam!_

The wind rushed from my lungs with a groan, and I knew I'd broken my left hand.

Rolling to a kneeling position, I opened my eyes.

And saw right down the throat of the Shock Skag.

_Zero._

Mordecai and I were able to put Pete down easily enough once his shields were gone.

Brick and the Badass Shock Skag were still MIA, probably duking it out somewhere. I stepped over Long-Dick's body, searching his corpse for useful items. I found what I was looking for, his shield. I flipped it over, reading the tag on the back.

_Hyperion_

Damage Threshold: 297

"Exactly," I said aloud, "His shield faded once he was off the skag."

Mordecai tossed the machine gun on the ground at his feet. "I don't see how, but his gun only has a count of two-twenty per shot. It's not enough to cut our shields, but still pretty strong for bandits."

I removed my helmet, wiped the sweat from my face, and donned it again. "So, who's supplying them?"

Mordecai shrugged. "Lilith will have some idea. My guess is they robbed one of Marcus's shipments."

I shook my head. "Marcus doesn't do business with Hyperion."

Mordecai sighed, extending an arm for Hellfire to land on, "Right, and he doesn't order weapons and shields that are bound to a Shock Skag's energy."

I grunted, "Where's Brick?"

After several minutes of searching, Mordecai and I peered over the edge of a fifteen foot drop-off, and found Brick. He was sitting on the corpse of the Skag, smoking a cigar.

"Good to see you paid attention to what I taught you," Mordecai said, his grin returning.

Brick snorted. "Apparently not," he slapped the Skag on the side, "This thing kicked my ass. I got lucky, that's all."

I placed a hand on Mordecai's shoulder. "Let's go."


	3. Pandora's Newest Usurper

_Chapter 3: Pandora's Newest Usurper_

_Lilith._

It wasn't easy listening to the problems of others. It never had been.

Regardless of whether or not I was the leader of Sanctuary, or of some organization of religious superstitious whackjobs who believed be to be a goddess, everyone has problems and if you're in a position of power, you get to deal with them. Patience, as it was, did not happen to be a virtue I was blessed with. That was always more of Roland's thing. But Roland wasn't here, and it fell to me to keep the shit from hitting the fan.

And by the sounds of things, that was exactly what was about to happen.

Mordecai concluded his retelling of the assault on Long-Dick Pete, waving his arms dramatically, "And then we, Zero and I, walked over to the edge of a small bluff, and looked over it to find Brick sitting on the Skag's corpse."

I nodded, making a mental note to ask Marcus if shields and weapons like the ones Mord described even existed. Of course, I'd already heard both stories entirely via the ECHO last night, and hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. I'd spent the night (a thirty hour period on Pandora) thinking, planning, strategizing, and overall worrying about the events that had transpired. It wasn't until early that morning that I'd devised a plan, and even now I wasn't sure if it was enough.

Maya sighed, setting her sub-machine gun on the map table in the Command Building. "I wish I could say that Mordecai is alone in his findings, but turns out that the rakks we were sent to intercept had similar shields. Except they didn't have any guns, obviously, but they all clustered around a center Badass Corrosive Rakk, and we couldn't even touch them until the other beasts had separated from the apparent leader. Seemed like the Badass was giving off a shield bubble that the others stayed inside and attacked us as a whole."

Confusion and fear of the idea that new and powerful foes with abilities unknown had somehow appeared in the wastes of Pandora, each occurrence less than a thousand miles from Sanctuary. While a thousand miles may seem like a long distance, given Pandora's immense planetary size, it was closer than you'd think.

_We need to figure this shit out, quick. _"Axton," I barked, assuming a falsely confident air of command, "Go to New Haven, talk to Mr. Johns, he's in charge of the place. Tell him what's happened, and have him organize a militia. Also, see what you can find out about all this."

Axton nodded, saluting and leaving the room.

I turned to Maya, pausing for a split second to acknowledge, as always, that I was in the presence of another Siren before saying, "Maya, I need you to head to Fyrestone. The town's small, but heavily defended. Talk to Claptrap, he's the town's...Supervisor. Inform him as well of the events. He'll know what to do."

"He's just a-"

"Robot, yes," I cut her off. Claptrap was THE Claptrap, the last remaining service bot of his make, and a long time veteran of Pandora. "He's as smart as any human, on account of his programming, and he'll have a plan."

"Mordecai," I shouted, attempting to break through the layer of reefer clouding Mord's mind.

He clapped a hand over his right ear, grimacing. "Jesus, I told you I'm completely sober, I've heard everything."

I threw up a scowl, "Good, because you'll be working with me. We're going to see if Marcus knows anything about the shields and weapons, and I want someone who was there."

"Sure thing."

Zero's face was impassive, his helmet on the table alongside his rifle and sword. _Always the professional,_ I thought. "Zero."

His eyes met mine, though he said nothing.

"I'll need someone to be here in Sanctuary, someone who can be invisible, appearing as if the place is undefended. If there's anyone that's supplying bandits and arming wildlife, they'd be dumb as shit not to keep an eye on us."

"Of course."

I turned finally to Brick, tall and massive, rippling with mucle, and Salvador (short and chunky, though admittedly very strong). "You two mind traveling together?"

They looked at one another, each raising eyebrows and shaking their heads.

"Good," I said briskly.

"Funny how I wasn't asked..." Mordecai mumbled.

I shot him a murderous look. "Can it, chicken fucker."

I returned my gaze to Brick. "It has occurred to me that Marcus is not the only man who knows of every transaction that occurs on Pandora. So does Patricia Tannis, the crazy bitch who helped us piece together the Vault Key fragments. She lives in seclusion far to the South, on Hedgehog Island. Meet her, and see if she knows anything, then come back."

They both nodded, though made no response. I understood, nobody here wanted to be out on the road, or traveling the badlands any more than I did. But this was crucial. _Any large group, fifty or sixty maybe, of these specially armed units, human or animal, could wipe all civilized life off Pandora. Answers must be found._

"Everyone's got a job, let's get to it."

_Mordecai._

Stuck with Lilith when she's in a bad mood.

A sentence rather than an honor, in my opinion. Some would do anything to be counted as one of Lilith's inner circle, one of her equals. Today, it was like being tethered to a jaguar that's been recently slapped repetitively.

"What do you make of it, the two accounts?"

I grunted, my mind focused on watching Hellfire circle Sanctuary high overhead. "I don't know, I guess I'd say that I find it hard to believe that bandits would have such impressive weaponry."

Lilith nodded, her silence answering for her.

My response wasn't what she'd hoped, and I could tell I'd let her down a bit. I was, her and Brick excluded, probably the most experienced being on Pandora when it came to understanding the planet. Each of us, our environments vastly different, spent the five year gap between finding the first Vault, and destroying Handsome Jack by studying the overall knowledge of the place. We'd each gone from Vault Hunter to revolutionary hero, and yet I'd spoken the words of a common raider.

"Look, Lil," I touched her lightly on the arm, stopping and meeting her eyes. "I know I don't seem to be...All there, but I am. I'm just recovering from everything, you know?"

Her expression softened, and she took my hand in hers. "Yeah, I do."

I shot her a grin, momentarily enjoying her friendship. "So, we go ask Marcus if he noticed any funny shit going on, right?"

She returned to her stony visage, proceeding down the main street to Marcus Munitions. "Yes, then we follow whatever lead he gives us."

I nodded, adjusting my do-rag. "And if he gives us nothing?"

"We wait for the others to return and base our next move off their findings."

"Right," I replied, deciding it best to just agree.

Various homes and businesses slipped past, ranging from food vendors, to a clothing store, to a barber shop, and finally to Marcus's gun store. Lilith and I slipped inside, removing my sun goggles as I did so. The inside was spacious, roughly forty-by-twenty feet, the walls lined with guns. Three aisles, separated by racks of weapons, grenades, and shields dominated the center of the store, and a caged off purchasing counter was located at the back. Behind the counter was a barrel chested, middle aged man with a graying brown goatee and well trimmed matching hair.

"Mordecai, Lilith! What a surprise!" He boomed, his accent thick.

I gave him a noncommittal wave. Lilith remained stony.

"Hey, birdman, when are you going to let me make an offer on your rifle, eh? Very, very few weapons are ever deemed 'legendary' by the Atlas Corporation. I could make you a very rich man."

I smiled, doing my best to hide the irritation I felt at having the same question put to me every time I saw Marcus Kincaid. "It's not for sale. And no," I put in, waving my hand at Marcus's change of expression, "Neither are any of the other Vault Hunters' weapons. We happened to have worked very hard for them."

Marcus shrugged. Most people would probably have been shot for outright refusing Marcus, perhaps even twice for being snappy. However, even Marcus had respect for anyone powerful enough to become a Vault Hunter. "Suit yourself. What can I do for you?"

Lilith stopped inches in front of the counter, and placed her hands on her hips. I leaned an elbow against the cage, waiting for Lilith to do the talking.

"Do you have a minute? It's important." Her tone was all business.

Marcus hesitated, scanning the five or six customers eyeing his merchandise. I knew he was cautious about someone stealing from him, as was to be expected.

"I'll watch the store, Marcus."

He eyed me for a moment, his gaze falling to the legendary revolver at my hip. "Sure, sure. This way, Miss Lilith."

Half an hour later, Lilith and Marcus returned from Marcus's office. Lilith's face was troubled.

Hellfire was perched on my wrist, finally relenting enough to allow a few wide-eyed civilians to stroke his feathers. Ever since he'd hatched, he had been a showoff, though his proud nature rarely permitted physical interaction with anyone other than the Vault Hunters and myself, Maya excluded of course. Because she was a bitch. A royal bitch. And even a phoenix could tell.

"Yeah," I said, nodding to a tall black man in a rough leather jacket, "He really can set himself on fire. But no, he's not the same phoenix I had when we took the first Vault. Her name was Bloodwing, but she was killed."

"Oh..." The man seemed embarrassed, "I'm sorry."

I shrugged, though I truthfully had been hurt by being forced to remember the day. "It happens."

Lilith tapped me on the shoulder. "Time to go."

I followed her out the door, nodding to Marcus as I left.

"And I've told you before to keep that damn pigeon out of my store!"

We traveled across Sanctuary, back to Lilith's house, where we both resigned ourselves to her sitting room, putting a hurt on a bottle of fine whiskey. I had rarely seen Lilith drink, though I must admit, she was keeping right in stride with my own proficiency.

"So what'd Marcus say?" I asked, taking a generous swig.

Lilith sighed, removing her gun belt. "Not much. We went through his records, and the only out of place thing he's noticed is a story from some drifter that the guy was asked to ship some armor taken off dead raiders from Sanctuary to the Hero's Pass in the North."

I frowned. "Seems kind of strange. There's nobody settled in the Hero's Pass, is there?"

Lilith closed her eyes, a grimace crossing her face. "Not that I know of." She winced, a barely noticeable gesture.

I set my glass down. "What's up?"

Lilith shook her head, reaching for the whiskey bottle.

"Come on," I insisted, "You don't drink unless you're covering up some kind of pain."

She glared at me, but I returned the stare, my eyes unwavering.

For a few seconds we bored into each other's minds, a battle of wills. After a full minute, she broke eye contact. "Fine, nosy bastard. If you must know," she allowed a wry smile, "I hurt my knee when I was in the Arid Badlands. Got jumped by a skag."

I chuckled, rising from the chair. My head began to slip into the pleasantly familiar fuzziness that a good solid buzz brought me. I was feeling good. "Here, let me see what I can do."

She downed her glass in one, and raised a hand. "Whoa, easy killer."

I grinned, and plopped down on the couch next to her. "Relax, Miss High Strung. I'm only trying to help. I don't expect to get laid."

"Good," She snapped, though she returned my grin.

She laid back, allowing me to massage the massive purple-black bruise that engulfed her entire right knee. "So what do we do about Hero's Pass?"

Lilith's voice was low, and slow, as if she was almost asleep. "We'll go check it out, maybe. Depends on what the others bring back."

She lifted her head, making eye contact with me. "I don't drink very often. I find I don't like the mood it puts me in."

It was a full ten seconds before I realized she was staring at me with a look I'd never seen her fix me with, a..._hungry_ look.

_Ah, shit._

"Maybe you should go up to bed." I instantly quit touching her.

She retained her gaze for a moment, before sighing. "You're probably right, though right now I'm wishing I wasn't going alone. But then again, this is why I don't drink." She rose from the couch, passing very close to me, too close, as she made her way to the stairs. After a moment, she was gone.

Hellfire landed in the open window, and made a musical pur, his amber eyes set on me.

I glared at him. "Oh shut up, she's drunk."

The phoenix glided across the room, perching on the back of the couch. He resumed his purring.

"Lightweight..." I mumbled, allowing the booze to sweep me into sleep.

_Brick__._

Four days.

Four full days had passed uneventfully, if you exclude the moment Salvador and I shared plundering a psycho camp, since we'd left Sanctuary. The Bandit Technical was a power-hog, and we were down to our last two Eridium cells, just enough to return home. The vast and seemingly endless expanse of bright electric blue was before us, the great Southern Sea. On the horizon, an island was just visible beyond the waves. We had stopped at the seaside village of Opportunity, primarily a fishing and whaling town.

Salvador had gone to the docks to get us a boat, while I found a suitable place to hide the truck. Settling on a rocky outcropping, I steered the vehicle in reverse, relying on good luck to replace the lack of mirrors. A few scrapes and a slight crunch later, and the truck was hidden. I'd be able to find it easily enough, of that I was sure. Hefting my shotgun over my shoulder, I began the trek towards the docks.

Hedgehog Island.

Now, who in their goddamn mind would name the place after such a worthless animal? I snorted, thinking to myself that it would be more appropriate to name the island after a creature of great power, and value. Like Colossal Badass Corrosive Spiderant Island. Yes, that'd be more fitting.

"This place is stupid," Sal said, adjusting the pair of assault rifles strapped to his back, "Not even a defined path to walk on."

"We'll have to make one. Lilith's markings show that Tannis lives in a shack near a spring in the center of the island."

Sal clearly disliked the idea of having to trudge all the way from the fanboat, named by the locals as a Skimmer, to the dead center of the island, which apparently was little more than an unlevel spit of land riddled with rocky bluffs and random boulders. I really couldn't see how anything could possibly live here.

Proceeding into the heart of the desolate island, Salvador and I remained silent, each focused on simply trying to navigate over the sea of sharp crags, under stone arches adorned with rakks, and across open, sandy plains inhabited only by scattered skag and scythid nests. Hours slipped away unnoticed, the pair of us stopping only once after slaying a few of the dive-bombing rakks, and roasting one over a hastily made fire.

"This bitch," Sal grumbled through a mouthful of rakk leg, "Had better have the know-how Lilith is lookin' for."

I nodded, tearing an entire wing in two with my teeth, "Agreed. I'm getting tired of running these wastes, never getting into any real fights. What happened to the untamed, kick-ass environment Pandora used to be?"

Sal shrugged, tossing the thigh bone behind his back and belching loudly, laying back against a boulder and dropping his voice to a drowsy tone. "I dunno, big guy. I'd say that Handsome Jack pretty much put water on that fire. Not out completely, but it'll take a bit of time to get back to full heat."

I dropped the rakk wing. That was, without doubt, the only shred of wisdom I'd ever heard Salvador speak. I'd always taken him for a dumb, fat, machine gun waving gorilla.

_People used to think of you the same way, some still do,_ a voice in my head pointed out.

No argument there.

I slapped a fresh drum into my shotgun, wiping a bit of rust off the ID plate with my thumb.

Sledge's Shotgun (Legedary)  
Double Barrel, Pump Action, 30 rounds.  
3144x2 DAM

It was a glorious weapon, with its bright yellow-and-black paint scheme, it was the most intimidating weapon of all the Vault Hunters.

Salvador had two legendary assault rifles, Heavy and Elephant, as he'd named them. As far as I understood, only twelve legendary weapons even existed in all of Atlas's control (over a hundred planets, three galaxies.) It seemed funny to me that we, the seven remaining Vault Hunters, would have ten of them.

I stroked the barrel of my shotty, not in an affectionate way, more of an obsessive dependence kind of gesture.

"It's unwise to become attached to inanimate objects."

I registered two things: The voice was female. And that the voice was behind me.

I snatched my shotgun from my side, pitching forward and firing over my shoulder. I heard the deafening boom be followed instantly by the sound of cracking stone. Salvador awoke from his stupor with a quickness, scooping up both assault rifles, one in each hand, and emptying their magazines into the ten foot pile of stones that encircled us, roaring defiantly as he did so.

Bits of rock chipped off my surroundings, peppering my bare arms and face. I whirled around, shoulder-to-shoulder with Salvador, blindly eviscerating entire boulders with our defensive onslaught. I drained my drum, ejecting it and fresh one, newly materialized on my belt by Hyperion's New-Shoot system. Salvador did likewise, each of us scanning the area for the slightest bit of movement. Silence fell on our camp, the dust clearing. A minute passed...then two...then a third.

"I'm going to ask you not to shoot," the voice shouted, "I'd be very unhappy if I died."

I pumped in another pair of shots, preparing to blow apart the ring of stones again, when something clicked in my mind. I _knew_ that voice...It was Tannis.

"Easy, Sal," I placed one of my massive hands on his rifle, pressing it down away from where Tannis's voice had come, "That's who we're looking for."

Sal snorted, clearly irritated at the lack of being able to kill something.

"Brick?" Tannis's voice came again.

"Yeah, Tannis, it's me. Salvador's here too."

I massaged my swollen, broken left hand, lifting the wraps to check for any additional bruising. Tannis rose from behind the very boulder I was about to target next. She was garbed in her usual leather flight suit, though now her hair was not accessorized with road goggles. She appeared to me as quite attractive, though her expression seemed somber, even depressive.

"Why did you decide to come to my island, Brick?" Her tone was now hostile, accusing.

I wiped the sweat off my brow, slinging my weapon over my back. "Lilith sent us. Is there, uh, somewhere we can talk?"

She remained silent for a moment, her eyes sizing the pair of us up before responding, "Yeah, follow me. Watch out for the harpies."

Sal met my eyes once Tannis's back was turned, and he mouthed before responding, "Yeah, follow me. Watch out for the harpies."

Sal met my eyes once Tannis's back was turned, and he mouthed _Harpies?_

I shrugged, and followed behind her.

_Maya._

Fyrestone really was well defended, with fifteen foot walls made of shipping crates and thick plate steel.

Other features caught my eye, like the very noticeable fact that all the metal the wall was comprised of had been buffed to a brilliant sheen of silver, then painted with the same logo every ten feet: A yellow Claptrap standing with its arm raised, set in a symbol of a flame, with the word "Fyrestone" etched beneath it.

"Claptrap," I chuckled, slowing my Runner to a stop, "You've outdone yourself."

Claptrap had turned the rickety shanty town into what I perceived as a luxurious, comfortable military compound. The buildings were no longer either leveled by Handsome Jack's robots, or rusted clean through. They were shiny, and ornate, crafted from what looked like whatever metal Claptrap could get his mechanical hands on, then buffed and polished to shine in the sunlight.

I sat in what the locals, all seventy-two of them, called the Mayor's House. The Mayor, that being Claptrap, had built a comical looking structure out of what appeared to be some dome-shaped roof, laid on a cement foundation and called a house. Inside it resembled a beehive. A metal walkway, more or less a catwalk, spiraled the walls, leading to various rooms and finishing at the door of a raised room at the peak of the dome. Though not particularly large, my house in Sanctuary was larger, it was cozy and well kept, despite being adorned with paintings and obnoxious colors.

Above, a door burst open, and Claptrap zoomed down the catwalk, humming to himself. "I gots a visitor, a visitor, a visitor, I've got a visitor...In. My. House..."

The short, box shaped robot stopped abruptly in front of me, on a square plate of shining steel on the floor. The plate folded inwards, and then sprang up, forming a makeshift seat upon which Claptrap sat.

"Maya," he chimed, optical lens flashing pink, "What brings you to Fyrestone? Is it perhaps my devilishly good looks?"

I laughed, for the first time in a while. "Unfortunately, no. "

Claptrap's lens returned to standard blue. "Aw. That chaps my virgin ass..."

I stared at him, uncertain of what to say.

"SO!" he shouted, causing me to jump, "How do you like Fyrestone? I've spent every day since that bastard Jack died fixing it up!"

The droid was far to cheerful for me, in fact, he seemed to be far to cheerful for Pandora in general. It was kind of nice to be around someone...something, that didn't contemplate suicide twenty-four-seven.

"It's very well done, Claptrap,"

"Mayor Claptrap, if you'd please,"

"_Mayor,_" I corrected myself, "I'm here to talk to you about any strange occurrences in the area that might have caught your eye?"

Claptrap whirred, scratching off a spot on his lens, "There haven't been any strange things happening around here, no ma'am."

I sighed, relieved at the news.

"Just kidding," he said, clearly thinking he was funny, "We've had these skags with shields my wall guards can't penetrate, yes, I said _penetrate_...Funny word, _penetrate_.."

"Claptrap."

"Right," he plowed on, "So these skags run up to the walls, or to my scouting parties, and we're shooting, and we're shooting," He gripped an imaginary rifle with his mechanical arms, shaking as if the "gun" was recoiling at fully automatic, "And then BOOM!" he threw his arms into the air, "They blow themselves up in a big ass fireball, killing everyone."

I sighed, realizing the worst. _This shit's happening on both the Southeast, and Northwest coasts. I wonder if the four thousand miles between is the same way, even though I didn't see anything out of the ordinary on the road here._

"How long ago did this start?"

Claptrap thought, rather computed, for a moment. "About a week. We've been luring them away into traps with food, which is actually bombs. It's ironic, I know."

I rose from my seat, stretching my legs. "Thank you, Mayor Claptrap,"

"Please, we're friends. Just Claptrap is sufficient."

"You just said- Never mind. I'd like to stay for a night or two before returning to Sanctuary, where is the hotel?"

"Next to the giant statue, across from the infirmary."

I made for the door, then turned back to the robot. "What's the statue of?"

"How the hell should I know?"

_Zero._

Six days.

I'd seen nothing for six days. Maya and Brick had radioed back to Mordecai and Lilith, informing them that Tannis heard of some Hyperion warlord by the name of "General Rex" mobilizing in the frigid wastes of Thousand Cuts. Apparently he'd rehabilitated some Hyperion robots and gained control over a small bandit tribe, nothing serious.

Claptrap reported heavily shielded skags pulling off suicide bombings near Fyrestone, and Axton hadn't learned anything from New Haven, and should be arriving sometime today or tomorrow. Mordecai and Lilith had set off for Thousand Cuts to kill this "General", and yet I _still_ had not seen anything interesting. To pass the time, I'd practice my swordsmanship when alone, and blend in with the citizens in the meantime, eavesdropping when I could. I wasn't wearing my suit, so nobody would recognize me. In the past twenty-six years of my life, I'd never been so bored as in the last week.

Returning to my façade as a wandering merchant, I took a case of scavenged items down to the town square, and pretended to sell them. In truth, I was listening to every word around me.

It wasn't until the seventh morning that I heard something that caused my senses to heighten tenfold. A man in a black trench coat, claiming to be a raider of some tribe with connections to the Crimson Lance, had disappeared down an alley with another man similarly dressed. I followed, keeping to the shadows.

The alley wound for a long distance, and finally ended in a vacant lot. The two were there, whispering to one another.

"They're all gone, all seven." The first man said.

The other crossed his arms. "You're positive?"

"Positive."

The second man shook the first's hand, "The General will be glad to hear this. We've attacked every key point the Vault Hunters protect. They killed Pete, and the rakk flock, but we're still good. Now we can take Sanctuary."

The first smiled as well, though there was something off about the way he looked at the second...

I realized what was about to happen, far too late.

The first man drew a dagger from his sleeve, and plunged it into the second's throat. The fatally wounded man gurgled and choked, spitting blood at the first.

"And I'm going to be the man to tell him. That reward, is mine."

The first man tapped his wrist, and spoke silently into it, before leaving the second man dead at his feet, and turning in my direction.

"Don't move," I hissed, my own weapon aimed at his chest. I knew he could not see me.

The man made no attempt to fight, instead, he drove the dagger into his own chest, fell over backwards, and lay still.

I stared, stunned, then my mind snapped back to reality. Whoever this General was, he was powerful enough to get spies into Sanctuary, and had his own frequency of communication, judging by the man's wrist communicator. Perhaps he was more than the common bandit lord Lilith and Mordecai took him for...

_I've got to warn them._


	4. All is Fair in Love and War

_Chapter 4: The Thousand Cuts_

_Axton._

I dropped my Runner out of High and into Low, steering it into Sanctuary's massive parking garage. The lights were off, except for a dim glow emanating from a floor lamp.

There were two other vehicles, a purple Runner, and a yellow Bandit Technical. _Brick and Maya,_ I thought, removing my goggles and mask, clambering stiffly from the cockpit. Thirty-two hundred miles I'd traveled in the last week. All to find out that New Haven had not heard anything out of the ordinary, though raised their militia at my request. Mordecai and Lilith, upon hearing Zero's warning of spies in Sanctuary, had decided it too late to turn back, and proceeded onwards to Thousand Cuts. The rest of us had arranged to meet in secret, in Scooter's garage. He, at least, we could be sure of as to not be a spy. I doubted Scooter was even smart enough to understand _how_ to spy on someone.

Maya and Brick stepped out from between their vehicles, clearly hiding from whoever they thought I might have been, probably planning to ambush me was I not Axton. Salvador was with Brick, his face screwed up in an attempt at seriousness.

"Axton," Brick said quietly, his deep voice low and conspiratorial, "We're just waiting on Zero before we-"

"I'm here," Zero's dark voice came from the shadows.

"Alright then," Maya said, leaning against her Runner, "Let's not waste any time. Lilith and Mordecai are on their way to kill this 'General Rex' at Thousand Cuts. Claptrap has agreed to set his Runner teams to patrol the Arid Badlands, and the Fyrestone area for anything suspicious. That leaves our southeastern coast pretty well monitored."

I stepped forward, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep pull before speaking, "Mr. Johns hadn't seen or heard anything suspicious, but they're raising their militia at New Haven. The only news they've got is that they're going to retake Old Haven, because of its secure walls, and set up shop there. He said they'll send word via the ECHO if they learn anything new."

Brick nodded, then gestured to Salvador. "Hey," Sal said, "Imma leave the talkin' to you."

Brick snorted, "Tannis only knows what we told you already, that a Hyperion general, Rex, fixed up some of the mechs, and took over leadership of some bandit tribe in Thousand Cuts. It doesn't sound that serious."

Zero, nimble as a cat, stepped into Maya's Runner, kicking his feet up above the controls, "I just overheard two obvious spies. They said they're planning to take Sanctuary, and that they were serving a 'General'."

The hangar fell silent for a moment, then I said, "This General seems to be formidable, at least enough that we should take notice if he can get spies into Sanctuary. He probably has some idea about these crazy shield-skags and superweapons being in the hands of common raiders."

"I agree," Maya put in, "And I'm not sure that Mordecai and Lilith should have gone alone."

Brick raised a massive hand, "They'll be fine, I know them two. We should be doing something until they return, though."

"Like what?" Salvador asked, wiping dirt off his assault rifle, "Mord and Lil are already doin' the fighting. "

"We can monitor Pandora from the Command Building," I said, waving a hand to dismiss Sal's dim comment, "If anything happens, Tannis, Claptrap, or Johns will let us know. We can wait."

Maya nodded, as did Brick.

"We've already had spies," Zero inquired, "We need the city to be on its guard. We should raise our own militia, just in case Rex is more than we think he is."

"Well said," I conceded. I picked up my own rifle, slinging it over my shoulder, "We'll need the local businesses to help out, and you all know the drill. Brick, will you talk to Zed?"

"Yeah."

"Salvador, head on over to Marcus, let him know it's okay to open the Militia Crates."

"You got it."

"I'm going to organize the milita around the walls. Maya, will you set up Runner Patrols with Scooter?"

"I can do that."

"Zero, we'll need sharpshooters."

"Affirmative."

I nodded, seeing the plan unfold in my mind's eye. "Remember, guys, this isn't a sure-thing. We're just being safe in case Rex is a real threat. We don't want to get caught with our pants down."

.

.

_Mordecai__._

I rubbed dirt from my beard, adjusting my sword in its sheath.

Thousand Cuts was in the western section of the Highlands, south of the Dead Sands where Sanctuary resided. The air was thin, due to the altitude, and it made it hard to trudge up one side of the mountain, then down the other, in one day.

"Lil, let's stop for a second."

Lilith's shoulders dropped, and she threw herself down on a flat shelf of rock protruding from the mountainside. "Yeah, agreed. " She sounded exhausted.

I felt the same way. Plopping down on the ground beside Lilith, I lay my rifle across my lap, peeling my goggles. Hellfire landed a few feet away, scratching at the ground. He'd been flying recon ahead of us, due to our lack of visibility on the path that wound through the Highlands. "How far, boy?"

Hellfire chimed a response in his musical tone.

"That close, eh?" I removed my canteen, taking a large swig.

Lilith stood up, starting forward off the beaten path and into the rocky crags to the right. "Where you going?" I asked, mildly concerned. She had not spoken to me about anything other than business after the incident at her house back in Sanctuary.

"Taking a piss," She replied coldly.

I nodded curtly, tearing my eyes from her direction. What the hell did she expect? I'd been close to both her and Roland during the First Vault Hunt. Even with him dead and gone, I wouldn't betray him so much as to even consider something with Lilith. Yeah, she was attractive. She was smokin' hot. But she was Roland's, always would be.

"Women," I spat, "Always causing a fucking problem."

"We're good at that."

I snapped to my feet. Lilith had walked up behind me while I was thinking... Her face bore a hurt expression.

"Lil, I only meant-"

"No, just... let's go, we're almost there."

She set off, slinging her sub-machine gun over her shoulder.

Hellfire landed on my shoulder, and I set off behind her with a sigh.

_First we get into it with supped-up raiders, then kamikaze skags attacking Fyrestone, then spies in Sanctuary, and now a pissed off Lilith?_

_ Fucking great._

It was hours before we reached Thousand Cuts, Hellfire's sense of direction having been slightly skewed.

Thousand Cuts was essentially an uncountable number if crevices carved into the flat of several plateaus and mountainsides, creating what appeared to be _islands_ of traversable terrain. The camp in question, for it was unmistakable, sat at the bottom of a ravine, on a flat plate of stone. On one side, a steep, rocky slope was the only accessible route to the camp, and on the other was a several hundred foot drop into the fault below.

However, instead of the camp being bustling with raiders, psychos, and mechs as expected, it was empty. Not even a single plume of smoke from their usual fires could be seen over the top of the slope. Lilith and I had stopped less than a hundred yards from where the steep decline began. Silently wishing our Speeder would have been able to handle this route to spare my feet, I knelt down behind a random pile of discarded car parts, a clothes washer, and some crumpled up sheet metal. Lilith landed at my side.

"There's nobody there," I confirmed, scanning the camp through my scope, "I can't see anyone."

Lilith hissed, not unlike a desert snake. "That's not right, Tannis wouldn't lie. How are we sure this is the right camp?"

I wanted very much to use the same "retard" tone that Maya had used with me, though refrained. "Because there's a Hyperion sign pitched at the edge of the tents. Normal raiders or psychos don't'-"

"I get it." Her tone was quite dismissive.

"Anyways," I chose my words with care, "There isn't anyone here. Do you think he moved or-''

A bruiser stepped out of the tent closest to the center of the camp, machine gun in hand. He was barking orders back into the same tent. A second raider, a skinny male with only a handgun, warily crept from the makeshift hut, cautiously keeping pace with the bruiser. The two entered a larger shack, this one made from the bones of some animal and draped with canvas.

"There's a raider, a weak one by the looks of it, and a bruiser. Other than them two, I don't see anything."

Lilith pulled the slide back on her SMG, loading in a shell. "Why don't we go in and see what we can find out? Maybe they know where Rex went. How strong does that bruiser look?"

I eyed him carefully through my scope. "About mid level, he's doesn't have as many battle scars as the ones we find challenging."

"Alright," she pounced up to a half crouch, "Let's go in and take him out."

"Wait!" I growled. Five...No, seven more raiders emerged from tents, quickly moving to the hut the bruiser just entered. "We've got seven more bandits in the camp. Seems like they don't want anyone to know they're there, for sure."

Lilith's face was devoid of emotion, "It's a trap. People like us show up, see it's 'empty', and when they walk in, bam. They're had."

I peered at the slope, my mind running a thousand miles an hour. I cleared my head, picking apart the environment, formulating a plan.

_The slope. _

_Lilith. _

_Lilith slides down the slope. _

_Destroyed Runner. _

_Use as cover. _

_Provide sniper support._

_Throw out Hellfire. _

_Lilith and Hellfire clear camp. _

_Proceed with interrogation of survivors._

"Lilith, I've got it. You slide down the slope, dumping fire on the camp. They come out, you make them take cover with your rain of bullets. I'll throw out Hellfire to distract them from you, while you distract them from my sniper fire. They won't know who to focus on."

She turned her head, staring at me for a moment with her amber eyes. I noticed, not for the first time, but for the first time in such a fashion, that her tribal tattoos on her chest and arms were no longer gaudy and obscene, but only increasing to her beauty.

_Get your mind where it belongs._

"Mordecai," her voice was cold, yet at the same time, not, "Perhaps you are little more than a drunken, duck-loving sniper who puts his sword in every girl that walks."

She placed her hand on my arm.

I couldn't shake it. I couldn't deny it. I _liked_ Lilith. But she couldn't know this. Again, my mind traveled back to Roland. He was a firm, driven man, bound by respect and morals, not unlike Axton. To him, this would have been a clear form of shattering trust, demolishing the respective boundaries between a friend, and his woman. No, Lilith must remain clueless as to my feelings. Besides, hers for me were probably just confused rebounding thoughts, built off the sorrow she had for Roland's death.

"Oh, being nice to me now? I must admit, it's a nice change."

Her gaze broke, and she turned back to the camp, "Don't get your hopes up. I'm moving in."

And she was off.

"Son of a bitch," I spat, following behind her.

The only two left were the bruiser, and the small raider we'd seen earlier. Lilith had performed brilliantly, leveling two of the seven before the others could react. Hellfire had picked off two by igniting himself and dive-bombing them, and before I could so much as fire a shot on the other three, Lilith entered her Phasewalk, breaking their necks. The entire sweep was nearly silent, due to the silencer built into Lilith's SMG. I picked myself up, having just slid down the slope, hitting a rock halfway down and finishing out the remainder on my face.

"Graceful," Lilith pointed out, her voice still in a whisper.

_Go fuck yourself,_ I thought.

The two of us set off for the main tent at a low tactical crouch, Lilith taking point, her SMG pressed tight against her shoulder. I shouldered my rifle, drawing my belt dagger instead. Hellfire soared high overhead, keeping watch. Lilith placed a hand on the tent flap that served as a door, and shot me a glance that said, _Ready?_

I nodded.

Lilith tore the flap back, and the pair of us charged inside.

The scene that met our eyes was shocking, even with what we'd seen.

The building was, at least appeared to be, a sort of auditorium. There were three rows of chairs, an aisle up the center, and at the end of the aisle was a table. At the back of the shack, a Hyperion Fast Travel booth had been set up, looking somehow functional. The ceiling was adorned with bodies. When I took a more analytical glance, I could see that they were _children's_ bodies, each stuck with knives and forks, as if they'd been target practice.

Occupying the table at the end of the aisle, were the bruiser and raider. I stopped dead in my tracks upon realizing that the bruiser was standing behind the raider, who was bent over and bare from the waist down. The bruiser had seized his hips, and was violently pounding away.

"What in the goddamn?" I cried in shock.

Lilith fired twice, and the bruiser dropped.

The raider stared at us, his eyes shining with tears. I dropped my dagger, pointing at him like a bully on the playground. I roared with mirth, doubling over and leaning on a chair for support. Lilith darted to the raider's side, slamming his raised head back down on the table. Her face bore a barely concealed smile as he pressed her SMG at the back of the bandit's head.

"Where's General Rex?" she asked forcefully.

The raider didn't respond.

I couldn't resist. "Hey, Lil," she looked up at me, "That guy's had enough of an ass whoopin, lighten up on him." I collapsed, howling uncontrollably at my own lame joke.

Lilith pressed on, her own demeanor far more stable than my own. "Where is he, you little worm?"

"Oh, come on now," I cried in mock concern, "He's had enough of the _worm_ for one day." I couldn't even stand upright, the incessant laughter now so strong it had lost all sound, leaving my mouth open in silence.

"He isn't here," the raider said, his voice high, embarrassed and afraid at the same time.

"Obviously," Lilith snarled, driving his head into the table, "Tell us where he is."

The bandit sniffed, clearly fighting more tears. "He'll kill me..."

I saw another opportunity. "By the looks of it, your cornhole's been killed already. Why not the rest of you?"

"Mordecai, enough," She fired a round into the table, "Tell me where the fuck he is!"

"Okay!"

The hilarity of the situation died a bit, and my choked laughing was reduced to a chuckle, now paying attention to the man's words.

"He's at Hero's Pass. He's gots a shipment headin there for his inner circle of men."

Lilith fired another round into the table, and the raider squealed in fright, "Why is this camp empty, it's big enough to hold hundreds of you slimy bastards."

The bandit's breathing was rapid, ragged. "I don't know, I swears. Rex just tolded the lot of us, the ones he don't make his favorites, to head to Sanctrary,"

"Sanctuary," Lilith corrected.

My humor was gone, replaced by intent listening.

"Whatever," the human humping-post pressed on, "Well there's gotta be two, nah, three hundred of 'em, and they a gonna burn it to the ground, tomorrow." He sounded hopeful, as if the information he'd given would spare his life.

Lilith prodded the man in the back of the head with her barrel, and fired. A crimson mist followed the suppressed snap-hiss of the gun, and the raider fell still. Lilith wiped her hands on her shirt, and stepped over to the Fast Travel station.

"We have to get back to Sanctuary, today."

I came up beside her. "I know. Is the Fast Travel working in the city?"

"Yes," she began typing on the touch screen monitor, plugging in the security password to travel to Sanctuary, "We'll have to trust the bandits' handiwork, get on the platform."

_Brick._

The defenses were in place, the Runner patrols following Maya's lead, and the sharpshooters strategically placed.

Everyone had a job. Axton and I were controlling the militia (he the East and South sides, me the North and West), while Maya had dominion over the vehicles, and Zero over the snipers. Salvador was with Marcus, apparently the pair had come up with some brilliant idea and were working on it with a few of the other citizens. Whatever it was, he would be needed if there was an attack.

The walls had a sort of hallway that ran the length of the tops, allowing for us to move inside them all the way around the city, peering out through two-by-two rectangular windows. From here, we could deliver streams of fire without being hit as easily. This addition to the walls was Roland's idea, and a good one it was. I tapped my comm unit, "Axton, where you at?"

"I'm on the East side. I can't see anything from here."

"Me neither," I replied, peering through the window to my left.

"This is Zero," as if we'd have trouble understanding his fucking voice, "Lilith and Mordecai just teleported into the Command Building."

.

.

"How long has it been since the raider said this?" Zero asked.

He, Maya, Axton, and Lilith were gathered around the table in the main room.

"Six hours," Lilith replied, "The Fast Travel took us all over Hell's Half Acre before bringing us here.

"So they could be here any minute?" Axton asked.

Lilith shrugged. "The raider said they were attacking tomorrow, and that was at the end of the daylight, six hours ago. When sunrise comes, they should be here."

I was in the corner of the room, half listening.

"And so we barged in," Mordecai said, the pair of us laughing so hard we could barely see one another through the veil of tears, "And the raider, he's...he's," he paused to cackle with mirth before continuing, "He's getting plowed, right in the stink, by the bruiser!"

I banged my fist on the reinforced table, buckling its legs. I roared laughing, my sides aching.

"Excuse me," Maya said cooly, "Can you two focus on the task at hand?"

Mordecai wiped his eyes, and began to clean Hellfire's feathers with a damp rag, causing steam to furl. "Ah, you need a sense of humor, lady."

"Not as bad as you need a twelve-step program."

"Skank."

"Futureless burnout."

Axton allowed himself a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Yeah, she's funny. She's just lashing out because she's pissed because she's like one of Scooter's Runners once she starts drinking."

Maya stared at him, "What?"

Mordecai had clearly planned this, "You know," He smirked, "Everyone gets a ride."

Maya's face flashed with hurt, before flushing with anger. She opened her mouth to retort, but Zero bolted upright from his seat, knocking it over.

"Mordecai!" he shouted, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword, which lay on the table.

Everyone's eyes, mine included, followed his hand. Mordecai fell silent, and you probably could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. Mord and Zero were friends, they trained together. I personally didn't care for the little slinky bastard, but even I wouldn't have said _that_ about his woman. But then again, I liked Maya. Axton's hand rested on his sidearm, his eyes flicking between the two.

"Look," he said soothingly, "We're a team, we made a pact after Handsome Jack, remember?"

Maya's eyes shone with barely suppressed tears. Mordecai's was as stone, focused on Zero.

"How could you?" she asked, her voice a whisper, "I was _drunk_, Mordecai. I have no feelings for you, whatsoever."

Mordecai couldn't meet her eyes, a first for him in the entire time I'd known him. "Maya...I'm so-"

"Don't fucking apologize, it's who you are. You came to Pandora because you and your fucking bird didn't belong anywhere else!"

Mordecai's shoulders dropped. Maya had now gone too far.

"Maya, enough," Lilith cut in.

Maya glared at her. "Moving from the soldier to the drunk? What an improvement."

Lilith started around the table, but I darted across the room, seizing her arms. She kicked futilely, swearing at Maya. "Let me the fuck go, Brick, or I'll Phasewalk you across the city."

I knew she was bluffing. "You'll have to, then. Axton's right, we're a team."

Tears streaked down Maya's face now. "Lilith, I'm sorry."

Lilith stopped kicking, though did not respond.

"Everyone get some rest, now," I ordered, realizing that with Lilith and Mordecai emotionally out of the picture, I was in charge, "Return to your houses, and sleep til daylight. Anyone who doesn't, I'll personally throw over the walls."

Despite knowing it was a hollow threat, slowly, the room emptied

_Maya._

The sun crept above the half ring of mountains that backed Sanctuary fifteen miles away.

I sat in my Runner, the engine humming out its one long note. Beside me, a second Runner in Sanctuary's customary red paint (in honor of Roland) left a cloud of dust in its wake. We were patrolling the Northeastern sector, each of us with a roof gunner. If Lilith was right, then we had less than an hour before the attack came, _if_ it came. My ECHO headset buzzed, and I let the call in. "Maya here."

"Maya, it's Zero."

My heart lifted as it usually did at the sound of his voice, "What's up?"

"They're here, on the south side."

I waved to the other Runner, the pair of us slowing. "How many?"

"I count two fifty. Thirty Runners, five of those Skag-Riders. There seems to be some Rakks on leashes. The rest are foot infantry; raiders, mechs, psychos."

I sighed, "Now we know who was outfitting the bandits and animals."

Axton's voice cut in, "The battle is started."

_I just wanted to thank those of you who read my work. Please leave a review, follow, favorite, etc. Everyone's opinions are valuable to me, and I do listen to them. Check out my other stories. Chapter Five coming soon!_

"_Without my fans, I'd be nowhere." – Jason David Frank._


	5. The Battle for Sanctuary

_Salvador_

I was beat, dead tired.

Marcus and I had been working on our...project for hours, probably all night. I didn't know, there weren't any windows in here to see the light out of. Marcus had thrown a tarp over it now, saying "We wouldn't want any of those...spies, to see this, no?"

I agreed, of course. I didn't want nobody to see it neither. It was going to turn the battle in our favor, if that Rex guy came calling. Shit, we could wipe out an entire Runner with one shot. And it was all my idea. I smiled happily, pushing the door open that led into Marcus's shop from the back. I made sure to lock it behind me. I didn't usually have the ideas in the group, that was the other guys. I was the short, fat guy with the big guns. But I wasn't dumb, and I knew people thought I was. I wasn't no genius like Zero, but I had my moments.

Stepping into the street, I felt the morning heat hit my face. I knew it had to be morning, because the sun was barely over the walls. This was my favorite time of day on Pandora. It was a lot more quiet in the mornings. And, the best part of morning, was that it lasted so long. Maya said that Pandora had ninety hour days, and thirty one hours of that was nighttime. So that made the mornings, like, six hours long. I loved it. As I walked down Sanctuary's main streets, I remembered to keep my eyes on the road signs, so I could find my way to the Command Building without getting all twisted around and lost so it took me three fucking hours to find one goddamn building, just to learn it was right in plain view the whole time.

"Sal, come in."

It was Axton. _Wonder what he wants..._

"Yeah, I'm here, man."

"Rex's men showed up. You're going to be our last line of defense in case they breach the shield or the walls. Gather some men together, and get patrols on the Plan A grid."

_Damn, looks like it's time to blow shit up._ "I hear ya'."

..

_Lilith._

With Maya organizing the Runner patrols inside the bubble (which extended a mile from the walls in every direction), Axton and Brick manning the walls, Salvador in the city, and Mordecai and Zero running the snipers, I had nothing to do. So I resigned myself to sitting in the Command Building, where I could see the entire battle take place over the monitors wirelessly hooked to the fifty cameras placed in and around Sanctuary. From here, I was calling the shots via the ECHO.

The top of the hill just outside the shield bubble was lined with troops, Runners, and the Skag-Riders. Maya had, so far, done a good job of setting up a mobile perimeter. The enemy didn't seem to be moving...

The crackle of radio static broke over the ECHO, followed by a mechanical voice. "Vault Hunters, stand down and remove your shield."

_Yeah,_ I thought, _Right after you lick my ass._

"Complying with the General's orders will result in zero fatalities. We are here on our own mission. Submit to Marshal Law and your lives will be spared, rebel and you will be destroyed."

I checked the frequency, my suspicion confirmed. The robot was broadcasting so that everyone in Sanctuary could hear it. Silence followed the droid's proposal...

A deep, strong voice shattered the quiet. "Go fuck yourself!"

..

_Brick._

Nobody else said anything in return, so I figured I might as well.

The instant the words registered in the minds of the listeners, Sanctuary exploded in a chorus of cheers and defiant roars. I grinned, poking the barrel of my shotgun through a window, taking aim on the ring of bandits, raiders, psychos, Hyperion Mechs, and Skag-Riders.

"You will be slaughtered, then." The electronic voice replied.

A man to my right, one of Roland's Crimson Raiders, inclined his head towards my gun, saying, "You really think you'll reach them with that at such a range?"

I allowed him a small chuckle, "The spread stays the same regardless of distance. The scatter is about," I made a circle with my hands about two feet across, "Yay big. Whether they're ten feet or ten miles."

The man nodded, shifting his rifle in his hands, "Nice." His eyes darted to the medical wrap on my hand. "Your hand broken?"

I stared at him, confused. "Oh, no. I mean it was. A Badass Shock Skag broke it when we first found out about Rex, you know? But Tannis took care of it for me. Just forgot to unwrap it."

The man's mouth was slightly open. "Very nice..."

..

_Axton._

They were moving out there.

Directly in front of the main gate, albeit over a mile away, the crowd was..._parting_. Apparently something was coming up from the rear lines. I tried not to think of what it could be, my mind reflecting on the still unexplained Skag-Riders. I grabbed a pair of binoculars from one of the sentries around me, zooming in on the scene.

Two Skag-Riders shifted apart, leaving a fifteen foot gap. Around them, the men were cheering, the psychos particularly loud. I still couldn't see anything through the clearing...it seemed like they were waiting for-

A massive, colossal cone shaped something popped into view. It rose over the top of the sun-baked hill, revealing its entirety. Back on Earth, I might have called it a mining tank, with the cone now being an obvious drill. The drill, easily a hundred feet long, was fixed on a tank body, with two tracks replacing the traditional wheels.

The drill began to spin.

"Heads up, they've got some kind of artillery," Lilith informed the militia, "All women and children to the center of the city."

The drill fired a bolt of blue-white electricity a hundred yards long, the chain connecting with the shield bubble, seemingly unaffecting it.

Then, slowly, the shield began to fade until it was no longer there.

_Oh, fuck._

I seized my headset, still not believing what I'd just seen. The line of invaders charged forwards.

"Brick, take over the ground troops and set up a defense in front of the gate, use the Scorpio wall-turrets we took from the Crimson Lance," Lilith barked, beating me to it, "Salvador, take Brick's spot on the wall. Mordecai, join Brick and provide ground-level sniper support. Zero, target the Skag-Riders. Maya, hold them off for as long as you can, then fall back and run hit-and-fade strikes. Axton, hold position and drive them back, don't fire until they're within five hundred yards."

Nobody wasted time responding. I snatched my rifle from its resting place against the wall, taking aim on the raiders in my viewport. "Well," I shouted to the men around me, squeezing off a round that connected seconds later with the hood of a Runner, "You heard her!"

..

_Mordecai._

We did as Lilith told us.

Brick, me, and fifty others set up three tiers of shield-turrets roughly a hundred yards in front of the main gate. Anyone who tried to rush the entrance head on would be cut down. I was in the back, taking precise shots at the Runners, who had reached striking distance before the infantry. The top gunners were firing away at the wall sentries, rarely hitting anyone. I made these my primary targets, landing headshots with ease.

Inside the walls, Lilith had a small group, twenty or so men and women, standing as guard duty against the Rakks we'd seen earlier. Brick was at the front of our defense, tearing apart any Runner stupid enough to travel close enough to his devastating shotgun.

"Mordecai," Axton snarled over the ECHO, "You've got two Bandit Technicals heading straight towards the tiers you set up. They're heavily armored and not slowing down, can't be anything other than a suicide bomb."

I nodded, understanding his meaning. It was common for raiders to drive vehicles into other camps that were plated to survive gunfire, and rigged with explosives.

I took aim on the lead vehicle's tires, finding shot difficult to make due to the steel surrounding the wheels. There was a small gap, probably three inches or so, where a very talented sniper could blow out the tire. I released my breath slowly, relaxing my grip on the rifle. I centered the crosshairs on the black strip of rubber, and eased the trigger back.

The incendiary shot struck true, not only decimating the tire but setting the entire side of the truck ablaze.

It swerved, the driver clearly unable to keep it under control, and slammed into the second truck. Both exploded in a massive cloud of flames and black smoke, the shockwave rippling my shirt even from the quarter-mile distance.

"Good shot, Mord."

The voice was not Axton, but Lilith. I couldn't help but grin. _She thought it was a good shot..._

Brick's shotgun blast broke my daze, the scatter shot leveling a Runner completely.

The rest of the foot infantry was less than a quarter-mile out, level with the destroyed trucks. The walls seemed to detonate at once, each rifleman opening fire on the horde of stampeding marauders. I thought, for a moment between headshots, how they expected to win by charging us face on. Surely they didn't all have shields like Long-Dick Pete had...

Then it hit me.

_The destroyed vehicles...They were _**supposed**_ to be destroyed. They'll use them as cover and keep us pinned down while the rest swarm us._

At closer inspection, I noticed that nearly all the Runners and Technicals had been demolished about five hundred yards out. They'd formed a _wall_ out there.

"Lilith, Axton, they're using the Runners we blew up-"

"As a wall, yes," Axton finished, his voice grave.

"Mordecai, hold them off. They can't keep us pinned down and get those Skag-Riders in the walls or we're fucked."

I didn't respond, instead firing on everyone I could, wherever I could hit them, whenever I could avoid being pelted with return fire.

_Maya._

Most of the Runners were fucked.

I'd bailed out, joining Brick and Mordecai's defensive tier, bringing twenty good men with me. Our attempt to flank them cost me five men's' lives, and five good Runners. The remaining fifteen or so headed back to the garage, most drivers too battered to continue fighting. I leveled my SMG with four or five raiders hiding behind a Runner, dropping two and forcing the others to take cover. The wall sentries took up the same idea, raining fire on the ring of destroyed Runners that had formed a series of barricades at the front of Sanctuary. By the looks of things, very few invaders even bothered with the rear of the city, probably knowing it'd take too long to circumnavigate the walls and that they'd be picked off first.

The Rakks were now overhead, circling the battle but not interfering. I tried to pay them no mind, now engaged in a gunfight with a Skag-Rider. Frustration set in as I couldn't penetrate his shield, even with Brick's assistance. Together, assisted by three other of Sanctuary's militia, pounded the shield with gunfire, causing the Skag to buck and backpedal, though none made contact. The Skag opened its jaws horizontally, spraying one of my men with its acid, reducing him to a screaming puddle. An orange flash of light, one of Mordecai's sniper rounds, connected with the Corrosive Skag the Badass Raider was riding, and the round made contact, setting it ablaze. The rider leapt off, rolling behind a Runner to both put himself out and take cover.

_The shield's down, good. Perhaps this won't be as difficult as we thought._

The opposition's numbers had dropped from over two hundred, down to maybe seventy-five in the hour or two the battle had raged, the raiders seemingly unable to handle our wall gunner. Some group, whether it was Lilith's or whoever, had brought down the Rakks above, their bodies landing in the city. I dropped a Hyperion Mech with a short three-round burst, ejecting the magazine and slapping in a fresh one.

"We've got Buzzards in the air over the North wall!" Salvador howled over the ECHO, panic evident in his voice.

Buzzards were manned, helicopter like vehicles brought to Pandora by Handsome Jack, capable of dealing impressive firepower from above.

_Son of a bitch,_ I thought, peeking around my Scorpio wall to take a pot shot.

Salvador's voice again broke over the sound of gunfire and grenades, hysteria rendering him barely understandable, "THEY DROPPED FOAM ON THE WALLS! WE CAN'T SEE NOTHING OUT OF THEM! ITS BURNIN' THE SKIN RIGHT OFF OUR BONES!"

"Salvador," Lilith cut in with a commanding tone, "Relax, what's-''

Static followed her words. They must've hit the ECHO tower.

I dared a glance at the thirty foot walls, expecting to see at least fifty rifles poking out of the windows.

Not one.

The walls were, as Sal had said, layered from the top down in what looked like the foam you'd see on the top of a beer, though it was smoking and sizzling. I had never seen it before, wondering why the Buzzards hadn't dropped the foam on the city. Surely it would do more damage there. Then, as she watched, the bubbles hardened, taking on a shiny coat.

"It's Gyroflyn," Zero said, speaking for the first time since the battle began, "It's very acidic, and hardens when it dries, which it does rapidly. Those men are now trapped inside the walls. I used to use small amounts of it during interrogation. Nobody shoot it, or it'll catch flame. Those men will be cooked alive in there."

I gasped, the ingenious of the General's planning finally striking me. We'd played into his hands all morning: We laid the Runners where he wanted them, focused on the infantry while the Buzzards flanked us, and I myself was about to shoot the foam to break it loose. He'd had us by the balls since this entire thing started, not something the enemies of Sanctuary often could say, and be truthful. We, the Vault Hunters, were the veterans of this planet, the ones who had taken all it had to throw at us, and survived. Yet even after our greatest threat was dead, one of his Generals was very close to handing us our asses individually on platters. This wasn't something that I would allow.

I returned to the remaining opponents, firing when I could. Behind me, I heard a cry over the chaos of war. I turned to see Mordecai, his rifle at his feet, brawling with one of the Skag-Riders. The Skag itself lay charred several feet away, its head demolished and still smoldering. Mordecai was not the brute that Brick was, and couldn't match the Badass's strength. Mordecai ducked a right hook, countering with a rapid one-two. The Raider, under his mask, probably grinned before he kicked the smaller man in the chest rolling him across the ground. A militia woman turned her gun on the Badass, bullets bouncing off his helmet. He dispatched her with a headshot from a hip mounted revolver. The Rider closed in on Mordecai, who was crawling for his rifle.

_Whoever this Badass is, he's definitely on our level._

I felt the SMG in my hands, the steel hot from constant firing. Thirty feet to my left, Brick's cannon of a gun brought down another Buzzard, leaving only a few remaining. There couldn't have been twenty raiders left, bodies littering the ground in a half circle in front of the city. I turned back to Mordecai, my finger easing onto the trigger. I couldn't let him die, no matter how much I hated him. The Badass kicked at him again, but Mordecai rolled out of the way, buckling the raider's knee with a stomp, springing to his feet and kneeing him in the face, and chopping his throat with an open palm. The Badass collapsed, drawing his revolver as he fell. He fired twice, the first shot hitting a Scorpio, the second clipping Mordecai's arm.

Hellfire swooped from seemingly nowhere, igniting himself and glancing off the raider's mask, which went up like a tinderbox. Mordecai tackled the Badass, knocking his gun away. But the raider was stronger, rolling Mordecai over onto his back. The Rider landed two heavy punches to Mord's chin, and the hunter twisted out of harm's way.

As he rolled, kicking the Raider off, his eyes met mine for a split second. There he was, barely fighting for life, and I had my gun at my waist, hiding behind a Scorpio turret. I could easily have dropped the raider from here, but for a reason even I didn't comprehend, I couldn't raise my weapon.

A roar shattered my train of thought.

..

_Zero._

I watched Maya's failure through my scope.

I couldn't believe it. She was a team player, a selfless person. Sure, she hated Mordecai, everyone did at one time or another, but to not have his back? It wasn't her. I quickly calculated the distance between the frontal tier and my position, settling on a rough three hundred yards. I could land the shot on the Badass beating Mordecai senseless from here without too much trouble. And if Maya wouldn't do it...

I set my crosshairs on the Skag-Rider, resting them on his flaming mask. A challenging bellow was followed by a flicker of movement just outside my scope.

Brick had discarded his shotgun, charging the Rider head on. He threw a vicious left hook, colliding with the Skag-Rider's face with the usual gory explosion. Brick seized the bandit's body, hurling it thirty feet away with one hand. He turned back to Mordecai, extending a hand to help him up. A Buzzard roared from over the walls, clearly retreating the way the infantry had come. Brick snarled, leaping into the air and latching on to a stabilizer bar with one hand. The Buzzard pilot shrieked in terror, increasing his speed. Brick held on with one hand, clambering up towards the pilot's seat. A second Buzzard leveled parallel with the first, unable to assist due to the black plume of smoke trailing behind it, rendering its weapons inactive. Both vehicles were flying with immense speed, doing one-twenty, one-thirty with ease. They pulled away from Sanctuary, becoming more difficult to see in the morning light.

Through my scope, I could see that Brick managed to get a foothold, stepping up into the cockpit. He fired two quick jabs, churning the pilot's face into a runny mess, like a scrambled egg not thoroughly cooked, only red. The Buzzards were well over a mile away now, slightly to the Southwest, no doubt hovering over a chasm we'd nicknamed "The Pit".

The next move happened in an what seemed to be slow motion. I knew that they, those on the ground, couldn't see what I'd seen. I could only witness it through my scope, and even then I had difficulty. I increased the zoom, though the two Buzzards were as specks. Though I watched them collide, exploding into a fiery ball of destruction, hurtling downwards into the Pit.

Brick could not have jumped before the crash, I'd have seen it. And the fall alone, over two hundred feet, would have killed him. I was positive at that moment, crouched on the roof of the Command Building, that I had just watched the death of Brick.

The death of a Vault Hunter.

..

_Axton._

It'd taken us but several hours to regroup at the town center, most of the wall sentries seemingly alright, Salvador and myself included. Of the fifty men Brick and Mordecai took to defend the gate, only twenty remained. All but ten of Maya's thirty had been killed as well.

We, the citizens of Sanctuary, stood silent in the heart of the city, respectfully mourning those we'd lost. According to Zero, Brick was one of them. He'd told us all, the entire city, of how he'd attacked the Buzzards so they couldn't flee. A brave gesture. Rex would have used them to hit us again later.

I was at the front of the crowd, me and the other Vault Hunters. Maya was at my left, Zero at my right. Lilith was barely hiding her tears, her fair face screwed up and distorted. Maya was pale, even for a Siren, her eyes bloodshot. Salvador was howling like a wounded dog, blowing his nose on a stained handkerchief.

Mordecai wasn't here. He'd stormed off to Scooter's garage, not saying a word to anyone. Even his phoenix was here, perched on the roof of a building.

Somebody needed to speak.

"Today," I shouted, allowing my voice to carry to those in the back of the gathering, "We lost sixty-one fine men and women. That's a hell of a loss, the biggest since Handsome Jack. We also lost one of our guardians, Brick. We do not believe he could have survived the explosion, or the fall, despite being a great warrior. However, we cannot mourn now. We must repair our walls, our homes. We have to reorganize, and we will hold a proper ceremony at a later-"

"You...fucking...bitch."

The words were but a hoarse whisper, though they silenced my own, and carried throughout the crowd. I scanned the area for the source, finding it. I recoiled, the shock of what I saw startling me.

Mordecai stood, a pistol in hand, at the end of a now parted walkway through the crowd. His usual do-rag was gone, his hair falling to his shoulders in scraggled bunches. His eyes were bloodshot, even more than Maya's. He looked completely deranged.

"He died," Mordecai spat, his voice escalating to a yell, "Because you wouldn't spare a bullet to save me from certain death." The crowd looked from Mordecai, to Maya, and my eyes followed.

She had tears streaming unchecked down her face. "I didn't...How could-"

"Shut the fuck up, just shut up," He flicked the safety off the handgun, "That Badass Raider was tearing me apart. He was _above_ our level, Maya. By a few notches. Brick managed to finish him off, and then move on to the Buzzard. If you weren't such a selfish," he spat out every word as if it burned his tongue, "Arrogant, stuck up little cunt, you would have shot the Badass, and we could have finished the Buzzards ourselves. Brick would still be here."

Mordecai raised the repeater pistol, and fired. The shot would have struck clean through Maya's head, had Zero not shoved her aside.

"Mordecai!" he hissed, "Drop it."

The two stared at one another. "No. It's only fair."

Neither moved, each glaring at the other. The crowd around them dispersed, giving the pair a wide berth.

None of the other Vault Hunters spoke, not even me. I was lost for words, knowing what was about to happen.

Mordecai fired again, the round striking Maya's shield, right in front of her face.

Zero lunged forward, sword already drawn.

..

_Lilith._

Zero batted the pistol from Mordecai's hand with the flat of his blade, hitting the concrete at a roll. Mordecai missed with a left hook, and Zero countered by kicking Mordecai's knee out, and landing a solid left jab across the chin.

Mordecai whirled around, firing a straight side-kick to Zero's ribs, where it met its mark. The assassin stumbled, bouncing off a mailbox and dropping his sword. Mordecai dropped low, darting towards Zero like a cheetah. Zero attempted to land an elbow to Mord's head, but the shot missed, instead eating two vicious punches. Zero's helmet came loose, bouncing across the stone.

I- we- stood there, nobody wanting to get in between them, knowing we should.

Zero rolled Mordecai off him, leaping into the air and pushing off a stone pillar with his foot, kicking Mordecai hard in the face before landing. Mordecai tried to spin with the strike, but failed miserably, absorbing the full force. He tripped backwards, landing hard on his back. He didn't stay put, however, instead rolling and bouncing back to his feet, sword drawn. Zero had snatched his own from the ground, holding it at hip level. The two started towards each other.

Zero struck first, twirling and manipulating his blade in such a manner that I couldn't follow. Mordecai backpedaled, deflecting the web of steel the assassin was weaving around him with equal speed. The conflict had transformed, starting from a movie-quality martial arts contest to a perfect display of why exactly these two men were some of the most dangerous human beings on Pandora. Mordecai, being less proficient with a sword than his opponent, faltered in parrying a downwards slash, bearing the mark of being outmatched on his thigh. He kicked Zero in the chest, knocking him back a step, and flicked his wrist, dragging the tip of his weapon across Zero's now exposed cheek. Zero shrugged it off, and the two clashed again. Several long seconds slipped by, the only sound in the circle of onlookers in the center of Sanctuary, was the clang of metal on metal, the shuffling of footsteps. Mordecai received two more reminders of Zero's ferocity, blood now streaming from above his elbow and below his ribs on his left side. Mordecai, clearly giving the fight a "fuck it" approach, punched Zero four times consecutively in the face before they parted again, Zero spitting a large mouthful of blood onto the sidewalk.

Zero hissed with the pain, seizing Mordecai's wrists and driving him back by sheer force.

The two collided with the ten-by-ten pane of glass that was the front of Marcus Munitions, shattering it and landing inside.

A ray of yellow-orange light flared inside the building, clearly a muzzle flash. We could all hear the bark of the firearm. Marcus's voice carried across Sanctuary.

"Get the fuck, out of my store. I don't care if you two are Vault Hunters, or a pair of skags fighting for a scrap of meat, I'll shoot you all the same if you destroy my property."

Both Zero and Mordecai were bodily thrown from the gun shop, each rolling across the pavement. They lay there, panting, both battered and worn, though admittedly each was rising to their feet.

_Stop this before it gets any worse._ I closed my eyes, mentally tapping into the energy, the _fire_ that was forever burning behind my eyes.

_I was invisible, as I always am during Phasewalk. I darted past the citizens, determined to reach them before they killed one another. Marcus was still shouting, though his words were inaudible. I heard nothing but the sound of air rushing past my ears, my heart beating in my chest._

_ I stopped between them, forcing a small portion of energy from my body. _

I knew that had I gone full-tilt, and released all the pent up energy like I would have to bandits, or psychos, they'd both be dead. Instead, they were merely hurtled backwards, bouncing off the ground and rolling twenty feet apart.

"Enough!" I cried, my eyes darting from one to the other.

Axton, Maya, and Salvador had now decided to join me, holding the pair apart by the arms.

"We're a team, God dammit," Salvador snarled.

"That's right," Axton soothed, his voice one of forced calm, "We're-"

"Nothing," Zero finished, "You people are nothing to me. I love Maya," he turned to her, "But you stood there, allowing a good man to die. That cannot be forgiven. And you," he pointed at each of the others in turn, "You stay on this planet, for reasons I cannot comprehend. I'm leaving."

He shrugged Maya's hand off his arm, ignoring her tear soaked face.

Mordecai said nothing, stalking off towards the garages.

Axton sighed, shaking his head. "This group is broken..."

I glared at him, though I could find no counterargument. Nobody would team up and go hunt Rex after this, not after two of us tried to kill each other, and Maya left Mordecai for dead. Axton was right, we were broken.

...

...

_Thanks to everyone who reads my work. Please leave a review, follow, favorite, etc. I reply to any and all comments, ideas, suggestions. Feel free to PM me, and I will get back with you ASAP. Please check my profile if you wish to read more of my work. Updates and new writings coming soon!_

"_Without my fans, I'd be nowhere." Jason David Frank._


	6. Reparations

_Chapter 6: Reparations_

_Lilith_

The days that followed Brick's death were chaotic.

Claptrap reported several different attacks by "organized raiders" and rehabilitated Gun Loaders just outside of Fyrestone, held off by his patrols. The people now relocated in Old Haven had also been engaged in a battle with the newly risen Bloodshots, fighting a three day war they barely managed to come out on top in. In each scenario, men would drop into the town via Buzzards and begin…searching the entire area. It was the same old shit we had heard with the Skag Riders. Rex was looking for something, and judging by the desperation of his actions, he was getting close. Nobody in their right mind would launch a full on assault on Sanctuary, the city protected by a few hundred armed militia and seven, now six, Vault Hunters.

Yet, Rex was still dangerous. He had a few hundred raiders at his command now, if recent reports were anything to go by, and with the split among the Vault Hunters, our chances of mounting a counter attack were slim to none. And yet, it'd take all of us to bring Rex down. Someone would have to go to Hero's Pass, the home of the Warrior, and investigate the rumors of him being there. Axton and I had also decided that the only place on Pandora that one could genetically engineer Skags like we'd seen, was the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. So, someone would have to go check that out as well. And I had volunteered to go collaborate with Claptrap on just what exactly might be in Fyrestone that Rex was so interested in.

_We need everyone to get their shit together,_ I thought to myself, scowling, _Pandora's entire being is at stake here._

I steered my Runner back onto the defined path, finishing my patrol. Since Mordecai and Zero's very public and dramatic fight, the citizens of Sanctuary had become silent, and questioning when one of us Vault Hunters were around, like they were unsure of our ability to continue leading them. I snorted, pissed off at myself more than anyone. It was my job, with Roland gone, to lead, to take up the mantle of the head Crimson Raider. So far, I'd done nothing successful aside from defeating Handsome Jack, and the New Four had done more in that regard than I. All I'd done was the brainwork, they'd pulled the weight.

I sighed, trying to clear my head. It was time to start heading back to Sanctuary. Maybe when I got there, I could fix this.

…

_Axton_

When I first came to Pandora, I was a glory hungry, egotistical, smartass renegade deserter.

Handsome Jack had taken a toll on me, seeing so many people die because of one man's arrogance. I guess I thought I was a lot like him, and that scared me. Since then I'd changed dramatically, turning myself into the "Obi Wan Kenobi" kind of guy. I thought more, spoke less. Things that once seemed so important to me were not anymore, things like fame and fortune. All I wanted now was to have a little peace on this crazy planet that I was so in love with. But to do that, I'd need my friends, my brothers, back on the same page.

It'd taken me six days to find Zero. The kid hid so well, I thought I'd never lay eyes on him. Eventually, I caught him by surprise and cornered him before he could run. Zero and I always had a mutual respect for one another. One might even go as far as to say I was his only real friend. I hoped he agreed with that.

"Zero," I barked, stopping him in his tracks, "I need to talk to you."

The assassin stood there on the roof of Zed's pharmacy, his back to me, the wind silent. His sword was slung across his back, along with his rifle. The ECHO device and shield were both on his belt, along with a revolver.

"I will not talk, though I will listen."

_Fair enough._

I offered a hand, gesturing to the ledge that surrounded the perimeter of the roof. Zero took a seat, his face invisible behind his helmet. I sat next to him, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, as one would when he was about to lecture a child.

"This planet is insane," I said slowly, beginning my long rehearsed speech, "And yet you stayed. You say it's because you found love, I say bullshit."

Zero stiffened, his face still pointed away.

"I think you stayed because you finally found a challenge you could not overcome, one that'd take you a lifetime to beat: Surviving Pandora. I know that I stay here because I both belong here, and because I have an obligation to you Vault Hunters, and the people of Sanctuary. Now, I could start in about how you owe us, and how you're supposed to stay, but in reality it's your life. You make the decisions."

Zero's posture softened a bit, and I even heard him sigh form within his helmet.

"Mordecai was right to be angry."

I nodded. "Yes, he was. He and Brick were very close."

"Maya shouldn't have left it up to Brick to defend Mordecai when she had the ability. She has dishonored herself."

I nodded again, "Yes, she has," I clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Go talk to him, explain that you were only defending your woman. He'll understand."

Zero didn't respond, only removed his helmet, wiping his forehead. He sighed, met eyes with me.

He took a deep breath, and nodded.

…

_Mordecai_

Fuck Zero.

That slinky, wannabe ninja queer ass motherfucker could go die for all I cared. He defended a woman who wouldn't defend a fellow Vault Hunter. He was as bad as her. And now, Brick was dead because he had to cover me. He wouldn't have gone after the Buzzard if Maya had not been so preoccupied deciding whether she'd cover me, or shoot me. Brick would have been able to kill the Badass, and we all would have taken out the Buzzard. Instead Maya dropped the fucking ball and Brick had to do it all himself, costing him his life.

I would never forgive her for that.

I held out an arm for Hellfire to land, his feathers a bright red-gold. I stroked his wings, then took another shot from the bottle of whiskey sitting on the platform beside me. And so this was how I spent my days now, drunk either in the bar or up on the roof of the Command building, overlooking the entire city. In the past week or so since Brick's death, I was positive that this was the first moment I'd not been drunk or high off my ass. Lilith and Axton had both tried talking to me, and made very little progress. It was almost insulting that they'd ask me to patch things up with Maya or Zero.

"Fuck them," I said aloud, lighting my bowl, "Fuck them both."

I took a long, deep pull off the pipe, coughing as I exhaled the harsh smoke.

"Mordecai."

The voice was behind me, and without a doubt belonging to Zero.

I continued to stare forward, out over the city.

"What do you want?" I patted Hellfire to keep him from getting hostile.

Zero didn't answer. I could hear his footsteps getting closer. Hellfire shuffled his feathers.

"Get the fuck away from me, assassin. I have no need for anyone like you."

The steps halted immediately. A long silence broke over the three of us, interrupted only by me taking another drink.

"I want to talk to you. You don't have to respond, though my words will be heard before I part our ways."

I rolled my eyes. "Go for it, Batman."

"Before I came to Pandora, I worked as an assassin, as you know. Yet no kill, no job, no assignment was challenging enough. When I came to Pandora, I worked here as well, and the challenge increased. I liked it. Eventually I met the other Vault Hunters, and went on the biggest challenge of my life. That ended, however, and I found a new one. One that could never be bested: Maya. She's everything to me. I'd die for her, something few others can say. And I'll kill anyone who harms her. Despite our differences, I include you Vault Hunters in that statement. We're a family. What Maya did was unforgivable, and I won't ask you to let her go. However, not all is as it seems. She couldn't let you die. Leaves fall, water ripples, and yet life moves on. We can decide to stay in the past, as we've been, or move on with the winds of change. We can set aside our differences, and fix this fissure in our lives. I'm asking you to do just that."

I snorted, taking another hit off my pipe.

Silence.

"So you want me to apologize for trying to shoot her?"

"I want you to join me in re-welding this chain of ours."

_Could've just said yes, instead of speaking in haiku._

I set my pipe and bottle down. Zero was right, in a sense. We were all each other had. Brick was my best friend, my brother above all others. Yet he wouldn't have wanted me to take the bottle up again, nor would he want me to forsake the group…

He'd be pissed right off at me right now, if he could see me.

"Fine," I relented, refusing to turn and make eye contact, "Tomorrow morning I'll go down, and we'll plan how to kill Rex."

"I understand."

I heard footsteps behind me, heading in the opposite direction, towards the ladder that led down to the roof access.

"Zero," I called.

The footsteps halted.

"You fight good, for a kid."

The footsteps picked up, heading down the ladder.

…

_Maya_

However Axton managed it, none of us would ever know.

There all of us were, inside the Command Room, standing around the table, talking about the little images on the holographic map of Pandora, making plans. Mordecai had already been here when the rest of us arrived, which was a shock. Even more shocking, was that he nodded to both me and Zero when we walked in, as if nothing had happened. What nearly dropped me to the floor in astonishment, was that he wasn't drunk or hungover. On the contrary, he had a cup of coffee in hand, his beard was trimmed, his clothes washed, and he was clearly planning the next move over the table.

"Alright," Lilith said, addressing the group, "Let's get started. The plan is simple: Mordecai and Axton will go to Hero's Pass to check out the rumors of Rex's main force massing there-"

"Hold on Lil," Mordecai interrupted, "But I'd like to go with Maya," he looked Maya full in the face, "if she doesn't mind."

The room was so silent, the beating of hearts could even be heard.

"Yeah," Maya said, nodding at Mordecai, "That sounds good."

Lilith raised her eyebrows so far they nearly vanished off her face, yet said nothing on the topic. "Okay, Mord and Maya will go to Hero's Pass. Rex is most likely there. Axton and Salvador, you guys go to the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. Shut down the production of these Skag Riders. Also, it's very likely that Rex has set up shop there. I'm going to Fyrestone, Zero's going with me. Whoever finds Rex first, let the others know, and we'll fast travel to your position, and put this fucker down once and for all. Clear?"

Everyone nodded in agreement except Salvador, who grunted a response.

"Alright," I said, snatching my SMG off the table, "Let's go."

…

_General Rex_

I'd done what Jack could not.

I laid siege to Sanctuary, killing off a quarter of their force and a Vault Hunter. I was the one who pinned Fyrestone down, I had control of the preserve, using Hyperion's prototype plans. I had control over the production of the most elite units on Pandora.

And what was better, was that I knew where it was. The Hyperion experiment. Operation Blizzard.

Once I had the Blizzard in my hands, I would wipe out the Vault Hunters. Something even Jack and his fucking Angel couldn't do.

_Which reminds me…Where is that bitch?_

It didn't matter. What did matter, was that I was about to be king of Pandora. All the raider tribes would soon be under my command.

I pressed a button on my wrist ECHO, "Captain, lay the traps. Then tell all the men and mechs that we're on our way to the main target. We're going to get the Blizzard."

"Yes, sir."

The war against the Vault Hunters had begun.

…

…

…

_I apologize deeply for the wait. I've been writing a lot of other things lately (Visit my name on FictionPress) and have not had time. I will finish the series in the next chapter, and MIGHT do a three part follow up. I may also do One-Shots following this storyline and these characters. Please read/review/follow/favorite! Thanks for waiting!_


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